How to get RG-213/U from shack to exterior
 

My shack is on the second floor, and I will be feeding a vertical with
RG-213/U. In addition to the antenna feed line, I will also need to run a
wire from the shack to a ground rod. The room housing the shack has one
window, which is just to the left of the equipment table, and the window is
an aluminum single-hung type. The house wall has aluminum siding on the
exterior.

My current plan is to drill two holes, one for the coax and one for the
ground wire, in the wood frame that is just below the bottom of the window.
I expect to sell this house in the next year or two, so I want to be able to
easily patch over any holes I have made in the wall.

Any advice and information will be gratefully received.

On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 21:52:06 -0500, "John N9JG"
wrote:

My current plan is to drill two holes, one for the coax and one for the
ground wire, in the wood frame that is just below the bottom of the window.

Hi John,

Open the window 3".

Get a piece of wood as wide as the window, and that same 3" tall.

Insert the drilled piece of wood into the window.

Close the window.

Bar the window against 2nd story cat burglars.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

That approach had crossed my mind, but the screen in the window cannot be
removed without first removing the hung window. Removing the window is a
real pain in the arse.

"Richard Clark" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 21:52:06 -0500, "John N9JG"
wrote:

My current plan is to drill two holes, one for the coax and one for the
ground wire, in the wood frame that is just below the bottom of the
window.

Hi John,

Open the window 3".

Get a piece of wood as wide as the window, and that same 3" tall.

Insert the drilled piece of wood into the window.

Close the window.

Bar the window against 2nd story cat burglars.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

Hi John,

It's too bad your window does not lend itself to the spacer-with-holes
approach, as I was also going to suggest that. Does that non-removable
screen have a wide frame? If so, maybe you could go through holes
in a window spacer, then through holes in the screen frame.

In any case, you could save yourself one of those holes in the wall by
letting your "ground" wire and the coax share one hole.

Better yet, you could forget about the "ground" wire altogether--at least
if you have a third-wire ground in your AC sockets. A long "ground"
wire will be too puny and inductive to be any kind of RF ground. And
if you have a power ground through the AC socket, adding a parallel
ground path will just confuse things, increase your lightning risk, and
possibly put you into a code violation.

I have only AC-socket power grounds in my second floor shack, and
I run QRO on 80 through 10 with no problems.

73, Ed, W6LOL

"John N9JG" wrote in message
...
My shack is on the second floor, and I will be feeding a vertical with
RG-213/U. In addition to the antenna feed line, I will also need to run a
wire from the shack to a ground rod. The room housing the shack has one
window, which is just to the left of the equipment table, and the window
is
an aluminum single-hung type. The house wall has aluminum siding on the
exterior.

My current plan is to drill two holes, one for the coax and one for the
ground wire, in the wood frame that is just below the bottom of the
window.
I expect to sell this house in the next year or two, so I want to be able
to
easily patch over any holes I have made in the wall.

Any advice and information will be gratefully received.

"Old Ed" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi John,

It's too bad your window does not lend itself to the spacer-with-holes
approach, as I was also going to suggest that. Does that non-removable
screen have a wide frame? If so, maybe you could go through holes
in a window spacer, then through holes in the screen frame.

In any case, you could save yourself one of those holes in the wall by
letting your "ground" wire and the coax share one hole.

Better yet, you could forget about the "ground" wire altogether--at least
if you have a third-wire ground in your AC sockets. A long "ground"
wire will be too puny and inductive to be any kind of RF ground. And
if you have a power ground through the AC socket, adding a parallel
ground path will just confuse things, increase your lightning risk, and
possibly put you into a code violation.

I have only AC-socket power grounds in my second floor shack, and
I run QRO on 80 through 10 with no problems.

73, Ed, W6LOL

"John N9JG" wrote in message
...
My shack is on the second floor, and I will be feeding a vertical with
RG-213/U. In addition to the antenna feed line, I will also need to run a
wire from the shack to a ground rod. The room housing the shack has one
window, which is just to the left of the equipment table, and the window
is
an aluminum single-hung type. The house wall has aluminum siding on the
exterior.

My current plan is to drill two holes, one for the coax and one for the
ground wire, in the wood frame that is just below the bottom of the
window.
I expect to sell this house in the next year or two, so I want to be able
to
easily patch over any holes I have made in the wall.

Any advice and information will be gratefully received.




Replace glass with a sheet of "Lexan" or "Perspex". Then you can drill all
the holes you like. If you move out, put the glass back in.

73
Roger ZR3RC

Thanks for your suggestion, but among other things that sheet of plastic
would get all frosted in the winter (it gets down to 0° F here), and the
heat loss through the pane (roughly 27 X 27") would be quite large. Finally,
the window has an aluminum frame and to remove either window is a big pain.

"Roger Conroy" wrote in message
...
Replace glass with a sheet of "Lexan" or "Perspex". Then you can drill
all the holes you like. If you move out, put the glass back in.

73
Roger ZR3RC

The non-removable screen has a narrow aluminum frame. My current plan is to
drill through the wood sill, and patch the holes (both interior and
exterior) when I leave.

The ground wire will be about 12 feet long, so for the higher bands the
ground will be ineffective unless I tune it. Actually, unless I run the end
of an antenna into the shack and load it against ground, I should not need
an rf ground.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.


"Old Ed" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi John,

It's too bad your window does not lend itself to the spacer-with-holes
approach, as I was also going to suggest that. Does that non-removable
screen have a wide frame? If so, maybe you could go through holes
in a window spacer, then through holes in the screen frame.

In any case, you could save yourself one of those holes in the wall by
letting your "ground" wire and the coax share one hole.

Better yet, you could forget about the "ground" wire altogether--at least
if you have a third-wire ground in your AC sockets. A long "ground"
wire will be too puny and inductive to be any kind of RF ground. And
if you have a power ground through the AC socket, adding a parallel
ground path will just confuse things, increase your lightning risk, and
possibly put you into a code violation.

I have only AC-socket power grounds in my second floor shack, and
I run QRO on 80 through 10 with no problems.

73, Ed, W6LOL

John, you can use the wood or plastic insert without weather/winter
concerns. I used the wood insert for three years. I solved the 'winter'
problem [I'm in NH and winter temperature runs to -10F] by packing the
space with fiberglass insulation. I used about 3 inches thick and never
had a cool breeze. I had to be careful about keeping rain, etc. away fro
the fiberglass [it swallows water very easily].

John N9JG wrote:
The non-removable screen has a narrow aluminum frame. My current plan is to
drill through the wood sill, and patch the holes (both interior and
exterior) when I leave.

The ground wire will be about 12 feet long, so for the higher bands the
ground will be ineffective unless I tune it. Actually, unless I run the end
of an antenna into the shack and load it against ground, I should not need
an rf ground.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.


"Old Ed" wrote in message
ink.net...

Hi John,

It's too bad your window does not lend itself to the spacer-with-holes
approach, as I was also going to suggest that. Does that non-removable
screen have a wide frame? If so, maybe you could go through holes
in a window spacer, then through holes in the screen frame.

In any case, you could save yourself one of those holes in the wall by
letting your "ground" wire and the coax share one hole.

Better yet, you could forget about the "ground" wire altogether--at least
if you have a third-wire ground in your AC sockets. A long "ground"
wire will be too puny and inductive to be any kind of RF ground. And
if you have a power ground through the AC socket, adding a parallel
ground path will just confuse things, increase your lightning risk, and
possibly put you into a code violation.

I have only AC-socket power grounds in my second floor shack, and
I run QRO on 80 through 10 with no problems.

73, Ed, W6LOL

My personal favorite is to get a 2" or 3" (depending on how many runs of
coax you plan to have going out) plastic LB box from a home supply
place. Take a hole saw of appropriate size and drill through your wall
(be sure to drill between studs!! Also assuming wood construction on
the house) and put in the LB box. Once you have the coax(es) run
through, fill the rest of the inside of the box with fiberglas
insulation to keep the bugs out. If you're worried about critters like
mice, get some of the expanding foam insulation that comes in a can and
fill the LB with that. Once you do that, it might be a bit difficult to
add coax runs later...

Scott
N0EDV

John N9JG wrote:

That approach had crossed my mind, but the screen in the window cannot be
removed without first removing the hung window. Removing the window is a
real pain in the arse.

"Richard Clark" wrote in message
...

On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 21:52:06 -0500, "John N9JG"
wrote:


My current plan is to drill two holes, one for the coax and one for the
ground wire, in the wood frame that is just below the bottom of the
window.

Hi John,

Open the window 3".

Get a piece of wood as wide as the window, and that same 3" tall.

Insert the drilled piece of wood into the window.

Close the window.

Bar the window against 2nd story cat burglars.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

Ham op wrote:

John, you can use the wood or plastic insert without weather/winter
concerns. I used the wood insert for three years. I solved the
'winter' problem [I'm in NH and winter temperature runs to -10F] by
packing the space with fiberglass insulation. I used about 3 inches
thick and never had a cool breeze. I had to be careful about keeping
rain, etc. away fro the fiberglass [it swallows water very easily].

John N9JG wrote:

The non-removable screen has a narrow aluminum frame. My current plan
is to drill through the wood sill, and patch the holes (both interior
and exterior) when I leave.

The ground wire will be about 12 feet long, so for the higher bands
the ground will be ineffective unless I tune it. Actually, unless I
run the end of an antenna into the shack and load it against ground,
I should not need an rf ground.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.


"Old Ed" wrote in message
ink.net...

Hi John,

It's too bad your window does not lend itself to the spacer-with-holes
approach, as I was also going to suggest that. Does that non-removable
screen have a wide frame? If so, maybe you could go through holes
in a window spacer, then through holes in the screen frame.

In any case, you could save yourself one of those holes in the wall by
letting your "ground" wire and the coax share one hole.

Better yet, you could forget about the "ground" wire altogether--at
least
if you have a third-wire ground in your AC sockets. A long "ground"
wire will be too puny and inductive to be any kind of RF ground. And
if you have a power ground through the AC socket, adding a parallel
ground path will just confuse things, increase your lightning risk, and
possibly put you into a code violation.

I have only AC-socket power grounds in my second floor shack, and
I run QRO on 80 through 10 with no problems.

73, Ed, W6LOL





A few years back we had a house fire and I had them leave a soft spot in
the wall with a cover plate on the inside. This spring I managed to
have the antenna installed but last winter we didn't have any problem
with cold and it gets to -40 up here (-40 is the same in F or C).

Paul